Autumn Leaves
by Let's Call Her The Tarryn
Summary: Casey and Derek are asked to clear the backyard of the leaves cluttering it, while everyone else is out. What kind of things can happen from simply raking leaves? Oneshot


I was flipping through my Mighty Notebook Of Life With Derek Ideas looking for more stories to start on -I'm just working my butt off on getting as many chapters out of the way on new stories so you won't have to wait for them once they're submitted- when I came across this oneshot idea I had written down, and I thought, what the heck, might as well. So I hope you guys like this one!

.I own nothing.

Enjoy!

x—x

"Casey, Derek. Can you two come down here for a moment?" Nora called up the stairs as she put in an earing.

Several moments later Casey trotted down the stairs as Derek trudged on behind her.

"Yes, mom." Casey said as she hit the landing.

Derek grumbled.

"You both know that George and I are going to dinner for our anniversary." Nora said.

"Of course." Casey said.

Derek grumbled again.

"Marti's at a sleepover and Lizzie and Edwin are at that Marcus's party."

"Mitchell." Casey corrected.

Nora nodded. "Mitchell. Thank you."

Derek grumbled louder and rolled his eyes.

"Derek, is something wrong?" Nora asked.

"Oh, he couldn't find a date." Casey said, with a bit -a lot- of enthusiasm. "The "Great Venturi" couldn't find a date." She sounded like she was relishing the words she spoke.

Derek swatted Casey on her arm and glared at her. Obviously he didn't like the words as much as she did.

"Shut up." Derek growled.

"Ow." Casey rubbed the spot Derek had hit.

"That's too bad, Derek, but it helps what I have to ask of you both." Nora said.

"And what is that?" Derek asked, looking bored.

"That oak in the back just keeps dropping it's leaves." Nora said. "They're everywhere. I'm sure you've noticed. It's insane how deep the leaves are getting. I stepped out there, and they were to my ankles."

"How does this involve us?" Casey asked.

"Would you both do me the huge favor of raking them up while we're gone?" Nora asked.

"Ew." Casey said.

"It's nearly sundown." Derek said.

"Why not get the Venturi boys to do it tomorrow?" Casey asked.

Derek glared at her.

"There's ten dollars in it for each of you if you get it done and do it quick." Nora said.

"Sold." Derek said.

"We'll be right on it." Casey assured.

"That's what I thought." Nora smiled. "Thank you."

"George, are you ready?" Nora called out to the next room.

George emerged in the doorway, trying to fix his tie.

"Almost." he smirked.

George rarely smirked, but it was obvious that he was where his son's smirk had come from.

Sometimes Casey wondered if the smirk had been part of the attraction her mother had had to George. It seemed possible, as with the growing reaction Derek's smirk seemed to bring upon Casey.

Was it true? Was mother really like daughter?

Nora walked over to George and quickly fixed his tie.

"Ready now?" She smiled at him.

"Absolutely." George leaned down and kissed Nora lightly.

"Bye kids." Nora said, "And raking leaves isn't that bad. I used to have fun doing it." Nora smiled, and then she took George's hand and they walked out the front door.

Casey stood smiling at the closed door.

"They're so cute." She sighed.

"They're so weird." Derek said.

"They're so in love!" Casey corrected.

"And I'm _so_ disappointed." Derek murmured.

"Why?" Casey asked.

"Because, if they weren't so in love, as you say, I probably would have never met you." Derek smiled unpleasantly at her.

_Ouch. _Casey thought, trying to keep the hurt from spreading across her features. She didn't want Derek to know that he effected her.

_I shouldn't expect any less from him. He's still Derek. No matter how I feel. He's still Derek._

That's why she couldn't figure out the attraction. He was such a jerk to her. Yes, he was good looking. _Very _good looking. But looks would usually be canceled out by sour personality. And yet somehow, Casey saw something in him that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Casey, I'm joking." Derek looked at her, his head tilted to the side. "I mean, but-"

"Can we just get the raking thing done?" Casey asked.

She tried to keep a blush from creeping across her cheeks. Apparently she hadn't done so well at hiding the hurt.

"Yeah, sure. Ten bucks is ten bucks." He shrugged.

Casey and Derek trudged to the back yard, and crossed the floor of leaves to the shed, where Derek pulled out two rakes. He closed the shed door and handed one to Casey.

Casey took it and examined it like it was some kind of foreign object.

Derek started to rake the leaves into a small pile, and Casey stared at him.

"What are you waiting for? I'm not doing this all alone." Derek said, looking at Casey.

"I've never raked before." She said.

Derek sighed, and leaned against his rake. "You have to be kidding me."

Casey shook her head.

Rolling his eyes, he explained. "Okay, it's simple. Let's cross our fingers that you've swept before." Derek mocked.

Casey sneered at him.

"That pretty face must mean yes. It's like that. Just with leaves instead of whatever you sweep. Just rake it into a pile." Derek said.

"Oh, okay." Casey blushed again.

"You know, for such a Grub..." Derek shook his head.

"Shut up, Derek." Casey said, testing the rake against the leaves.

Derek smiled and did the same, raking more leaves into the small pile he had accumulated.

Casey gathered more leaves and pushed it into the small pile Derek had made.

"Aw, look. Casey can do it." Derek said, mockingly.

Casey glared at him once again, and then went back to adding more of the dead leaves to the pile.

As they continued to rake up the leaves that crunched beneath their shoes, more piles of green, yellow, red and brown leaves rose up around the yard.

"Not too shabby, MacDonald." Derek said, as they looked out over the yard, which was nearly finished. "We do pretty well."

"Aw, is this a bonding moment, Derek?" Casey teased.

"Psh, I don't do bonding, just bondage."

Casey gasped in mock shock, and gently shoved Derek with her her palm to his chest. It was enough to catch him off guard, so that he would lose his balance. He reached out for Casey's arm to steady himself, but she wasn't expecting it, so the both tumbled backward.

They landed in one of the many leave piles.

Casey gasped, surprised to find herself in a pile of dead leaves with Derek. She expected and argument would surmount, but questioningly rose an eyebrow in his direction when he burst out laughing.

"And what's so funny?" Casey asked, crossing her arms, which were covered with disintegrated leaves.

"This." Derek said, dropping his arms in the leaves as if her were splashing water.

"Falling into leaves?" She asked. "I don't get it."

"I used to jump in leave piles when I was little." Derek said.

Casey could almost hear the crickets in her head, where a big question mark was hanging. "And?"

"It's fun." Derek said, still laughing.

"You have issues." Casey said, struggling to get up.

Derek picked up a handful of leaves and threw them at Casey's head. She turned and looked at him with her mouth open.

"You didn't." She said.

Another handful of leaves to Casey's face was Derek's reply.

Casey let out a playful shout and grabbed a handful of her own leaves and tackled Derek. She tried to shove them down the back of Derek's shirt, but he knocked them out of her hand, letting them scatter around them. He flipped her onto the pile and pretended to bury her in the leaves as she shrieked.

Casey pushed her way up, gasping for air through her laughter and shoved some leaves in Derek's face. Derek pinned her down, but nearly collapsed on her as they were both overcome by laughter.

After a moment of laughing, Casey chuckled. "You're crazy."

Derek smiled, still laughing. "And you can actually be fun."

Casey laughed again, and looked up at Derek. He brushed his hand across her cheek moving leaves, and then tried to pick a few out of her hair. He stopped laughing and looked down at her. Looking at her, he hesitated a moment before leaning down and fitting his lips over Casey as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

After a moment, he pulled away and sat up, running a hand through his messy hair.

Casey propped herself up, and absentmindedly ran a finger over her tingling lips. Derek looked at her.

"God, I'm sorry. I've just wanted to do that for a while." Derek admitted.

"Really?" Casey asked.

Derek nodded, finally taking his turn to blush.

"Aw is pwoor Derwek embarrwassed?" Casey asked, jokingly.

"Shut up, Casey."

Derek turned to give Casey a small push, but Casey wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him into another kiss. When they pulled apart he looked startled and unsure if he should smirk.

"I've wanted to, too." Casey smiled.

"Really?" Derek's tone was knowing.

"Really." Casey assured.

"Well, then..." Derek said, trailing off as he leaned toward Casey again.

Casey spoke before Derek's lips met hers. "We're going to need to rake up the leaves we just threw around."

Derek lips were centimeters from Casey's.

"It can wait." He whispered.

And then he closed the gap between them, and kissed her again.

x—x

Hehe, more fluff. Oh, well, I hope you guys liked it. I just needed to write something I can submit now. I'm itching to submit things so bad! Thanks!

Review, loves.

-Tarryn


End file.
